Food and drink- Quotes about edibles and quafables in Japan

“The reason Japanese people are so short and have yellow skins is because they have eaten nothing but fish and rice for two thousand years… If we eat McDonald’s hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years we will become taller, our skins become white, and our hair blonde”

“The only problem Westerners have with eating raw horsemeat is that (a) it is horsemeat, and (b) it is raw.” Paul Berger, quoted in Hokkaido Highway Blues pg 51

“Chicken Namban was, the shopkeeper told us with a certain amount of misplaced pride, invented right here in Miyazaki, though how much work went into thinking up fried chicken with mayonnaise is debatable” pg 51

“Chicken Namban… [is] ‘Barbarian-style Chicken.’That’s right, barbarian. You may want to pause a moment and wonder what sort of reaction you might get in the West if you opened a restaurant offering ‘Jap Noodles’ or ‘Yellow Menance Sushi’… Mind you, I suppose it could have been worse. They might have named it Big-Nosed, Round-Eye, Butter-Smelling, Couldn’t-Make-A-Car-To-Save-Their-Lives Chicken” pg 52

“I have another confession to make…I’m not really all that much of a fan of Japanese cuisine…I like my food hearty…fixing up a real belly-satisfying meal doesn’t seem to be the role of most self-respecting Japanese chefs” Getting Wet pg 99

“we were weary of live fish and dead fish and battered fish and fish with skewers stuck up their little bottoms” The excitement of Japanese food fades a little for Peter Carey and his son, Wrong about Japan pg 142

“what better way to ensure huge beverage sales than to use an actor face looks like it’s been ravaged by moths” Japanzine, Feb 2008, not impressed by the latest Tommy Lee Jones can coffee ad

“We sit on low benches surrounded by immaculate elegance, natural materials feng-shuied to within an inch of their existence” A posh izakaya (Japanese pub/ restaurant), as described by Pete Brown in “Three Sheets to the Wind”, page 298

“Look at that one. It’s $7000. Kind of makes you want to stop eating sushi. But I guess you have to.” Koi conversation from the movie “Thank You For Smoking”

“Although in most Chinatowns, from San Francisco to London, restaurants prepare food for Chinese tastes, in Yokohama everything is adjusted to Japanese taste buds…. (Top chefs recruited from Hong Kong and Taiwan have to be deprogrammed to prepare Chinese food in Japan)” Insight Guides Japan. One of many similarities between Japan and Italy, that one

“(Ryokan) food is tasty though puzzling” George Mikes

“Sushi?? This may be just one of those things you hear in the playground, but isn’t that raw fish?” Bart Simpson, not having yet discovered the fun of ordering tentacles- Simpsons Series 2

“Do you have any giant squid, the kind that drag men to their deaths?” Bart Simpson, now getting into the sushi experience- in the same Simpsons Series 2 episode

“No need to panic, there’s a map to the nearest hospital on the back of the menu” Japanese waiter, well prepared for fugu (poisonous puffer fish) mess-ups. Simpsons Series 2

“What about lambs? You people eat lambs. We think lambs are cute. We don’t try to stop you eating them.” An original if irrational defence of whaling from a Japanese chef. From Our Own Correspondent, BBC Radio, 19 Jan 2008

“There is nothing quite like that rush you get when you mistake the wasabi for pistachio icecream”- Source unknown or forgotten